Category: MISC

21 day challenge – Days 9-14

Days 9-14 have been slow moving, but productive. It takes so much time to sort and read each and every piece of paper and then decide whether to keep it, set it aside to decide later, throw it away or transpose it into a new file for the notebook.

Freezer Food Friday Spinach Stuffed Manicotti

hosted by mjpuzzlemom

MJ over at MJPuzzlemom recently left me a comment which indirectly let me find this wonderful new meme that the she hosts, Freezer Food Friday. I’ll join in this week by recycling this great updated freezer recipe of mine for Spinach Stuffed Manicotti Shells.

1 1/2 pound ground beef
1 medium finely chopped onion
2 cloves garlic or 2 teaspoons minced jar garlic
1 box chopped frozen spinach (thawed & drained)
salt & pepper to taste
14.5 ounce can diced tomatoes
1 can Contadina tomato paste
10 ounces beef broth (I use granules and make my own)
2 tablespoons Classico sun-dried tomato peso
1/4 cup butter
2-8ounce shredded mozzarella cheese packages
1 box organic pasta Manicotti Shells (prepared al dente, very al dente)
  • Brown hamburger. Add garlic and onion about half way through. When the hamburger is browned, add spinach and heat through. Salt and pepper to taste. Drain off fat.
  • Mix all other ingredients together except the shells and cheese and bring to a simmering boil. Add one third of the sauce to the meat mixture.
  • Stuff the shells with the meat mixture. Continue until all shells are full. This recipe serves 4, but at this point since there are just 2 of us I try to think ahead and prep meals to freeze for easy cooking on the nights we’re busy with appointments, but still need a home cooked meal. This Manicotti recipe is great for that. The shells come in a box with 2 layers of plastic protectors. I make sure to save one to protect the shells I’m going to freeze. I prepare the recipe like normal, but split it in half before baking and freeze half. As you can see it all slips easily into a gallon size ziploc bag. After removing everything, I roll the bag up and stick in the freezer door until the next time I prep the whole recipe.
  • In a small greased casserole layer some sauce on bottom. Lay in half the shells, pour more sauce over top reserving half the sauce for the freezer. Put that sauce in a quart size ziploc. Top with the cheese. Cover with foil and bake in preheated 350 degree oven for 30 minutes. Remove fol and return to oven for an additional 20 minutes.
  • In the gallon sized ziploc bag slide the extra tray of shells into it. Slide the bag of sauce on top of that as well as the second bag of mozzarella cheese. Zip shut and freeze. You now have a home cooked meal for another night.

T13 #8 Childhood Memories

  1. Summer days spent outside in the sunshine when we only came home for meals and dark
  2. Prime time TV meant once a week without nightly reruns (reruns were for summer)
  3. Newspapers were delivered by kids on their bicycles
  4. Neighborhood kids made money by mowing lawns
  5. There were no video games yet
  6. Record “albums”
  7. 8 track tapes
  8. Picnics and bonfires
  9. Camping
  10. Roller Skating (in line skates were a few years from being developed)
  11. Ditto’s jeans
  12. Dial telephones
  13. Push mowers

Slow Cooking Thursday

Chicken and Biscuits or a Crustless Chicken Pot Pie

4 boneless chicken breasts, cut into large chunks
1 small package baby carrots
1/4 pound fresh green beans, cleaned and cut in half
1 small onion, chopped
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon pepper
1 teaspoon minced garlic
1 can cream of celery soup
2 cups milk
1 can Grands biscuits or 6-8 Pillsbury frozen

  • Lightly spray the bottom of the slow cooker.
  • In the bottom of the slow cooker, layer the chicken pieces and onion.
  • Whisk together milk, soup and seasoning. Pour over chicken breasts.
  • Layer carrots and green beans on TOP of soup layer.
  • Cover and cook 6+ hours on low.
  • Stir all together and add biscuits.
  • Cook 1 more hour or until desired consistency is reached on biscuits.

Slow Cooking Thursday is hosted by Diary of a Stay at Home Mom.

Chicken Marsala

Chicken Marsala

  • 1/4 cup all-purpose flour

  • 1/2 teaspoon sea salt

  • 1/4 teaspoon ground white pepper

  • 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano

  • 4 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves – pounded 1/4 inch thick

  • 4 tablespoons butter

  • 4 tablespoons olive oil
  • 1 small white onion
  • 1 tablespoon lemon juice

  • 1/2 cup Marsala wine

  • 1/4 cup sweet cooking sherry
  1. With a mortar and pestle grind the oregano. Sift together the flour, salt, pepper and oregano. Coat the chicken pieces well.

  2. In a heavy skillet, heat oil and butter. Slice onion into rings and separate. When oil and butter is hot saute’ onions until just carmelized. Set aside and place chicken breasts in skillet and brown on both sides about 6 minutes per side over medium heat. Remove and set aside.
  3. to the skillet, add the wine, lemon juice and sherry. Stir, reduce heat, and cook for about 10 minutes until the sauce is partially reduced and begins to thicken.

    Return chicken breasts to the skillet. Spoon sauce over the chicken.

    Cover and cook over low heat for about 5-10 minutes or until chicken is done.

Hubby doesn’t care for cooked mushrooms, but you hardly miss them. If you want to add the mushrooms back in, slice 1 cup mushrooms and add at the same time as the wine and sherry.

Tuesday's Romance of Cookery and Housekeeping

White Cakes (cupcakes) and White Mountain Cream Icing

CUP CAKES
1/3 cup butter
1 cup sugar
2/3 cup milk
2 cups sifted flour
3 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon lemon extract
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
3 egg whites, stiffly beaten

Cream the butter, add the sugar and continue creaming. Alternately add the dry ingredients. Add the milk. Beat well and add flavorings. Fold in stiffly beaten egg whites. Fill well greased muffin tins 2/3 full or use muffin papers*. Bake 15-18 minutes at 350 degrees. Remove from oven to cooling rack for 5 minutes before removing cakes. Carefully remove and cool completely.

ICING
1 cup granulated sugar
1/8 teaspoon cream of tartar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1/4 cup water
1 egg water

In a saucepan pour the water, sugar and cream of tartar without stirring! Remove from heat as soon as syrup forms strings when dropped from a spoon. Pour very slowly onto the stiffly beaten egg white. Beat vigorously until cool. Add vanilla and blend in. Spread immediately. If icing gets too hard to spread add a little war water and beat again.

*The original recipe calls for baking the entire mix in a 13 x 9 pan on wax paper and then cutting into decorative shapes with fancy cutters after the cake is cooled.

Recipe (page 24) adapted from ‘A Thousand Ways to Please a Husband’ by Louise Bennett Weaver and Helen Cowles LeCron

Easter Swap Basket

I participated in Bella Enchanted’s Easter Swap this year and was partnered with Jill over at Baliwick Designs. I had a lot of fun putting together this basket for Jill. I started with a Vintage 1980’s Hallmark Easter basket with stenciled blue bunnies and pink crimped paper grass. I found this adorable wire chick in my stash and put a cute purple bow on him and filled him caramel filled Hershey’s sticks, Ferrero Rocher and a bag of pink gourmet jelly beans. Easter baskets are all about fun right?

Oh, and lots of candy. I found an adorable shaggy bunny, a Mr. & Mrs. Resin bunny statues, some sparkle painted egg refrigerator magnets, a couple of egg tripod stands and pastel painted eggs, blue and green polka dot napkins, 3 fat quarters in Easter prints, mini stringed carrot garland, cherry bath crystals for a bubble bath, and I peppered the basket with Hershey’s kisses, Chiclets (remember those?), Russell Stover Marshmallow eggs, Ghirardelli dark chocolate caramel filled squares, caramel filled Cadbury eggs and chocolate truffle eggs and then accented the basket with yellow lilies and of course PEEPS, green chicks and pink bunnies. I sure hope she likes it.


I had to borrow Jill’s picture as hers is adorable!

Potato Salad & Deviled Eggs

There’s nothing better than homemade potato salad and deviled eggs for a picnic. I also just like to have a deviled egg and carrot stick with celery sometimes for lunch. Hubby has friend coming over this week to put new plumbing in this OLD house, so I’ve been making a feast for them (that way they have no excuse to leave in the middle of the day and hopefully this project will take very little time). I also hate doing double duty so I boil the whole dozen eggs at the same time.

One of the best tips I ever learned about boiling eggs was to add a tablespoon of white vinegar to the water, this changes the density to help keep the yolks centered in the eggs. I also bring the water to a boil BEFORE adding the eggs. I use Jumbo eggs, so I boil them for 25 minutes and then immediately pour off the hot water and fill with cold. As soon as the eggs are cool enough, I also peel them under the running water. The vinegar also makes them easier to peel.

POTATO SALAD

3 pounds Yukon potatoes
1 small red onion, chopped
4 hard boiled eggs, chopped
1 good dill pickle, chopped(save the juice)
2 tablespoons mustard
1/2 cup mayonnaise
1/4 cup sour cream
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon celery salt
1 teaspoon white pepper

If time permits, I boil the potatoes the night before and then prep the salad cold.

Wash and peel the potatoes. Boil in salted water until tender. Immediately drain in colander and then put in pyrex to cool in refrigerator.

Cut the potatoes into bite sized pieces and place in a large mixing bowl. Toss together the onion, eggs and pickles and add to the potatoes.

In a small mixing bowl whisk together mayonnaise, sour cream and mustard. Add in the saved pickle juice, salt and pepper. Mix well. Pour over the potato mix and toss well. I like to mix it together at least 24 hours before I want to serve it so the flavors can meld together.

DEVILED EGGS

8 hard boiled Eggs
1 tablespoon mustard
1 teaspoon vinegar
1/4 cup mayonnaise
2 tablespoons sour cream
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon white pepper
1/4 teaspoon celery salt
paprika

Cut eggs in half and scoop out yolks. In a mixing bowl mash the yolks to a fine consistency. Add the remaining ingredients except the paprika and mix well until smooth and creamy. Fill egg whites and sprinkle with paprika. I have a Tupperware egg keeper that fits 8 eggs perfectly. I like to do these a day before serving also to allow the flavors to meld.

Give Me 5 Monday

Today’s theme is five ways you like to de-stress, relax, wind down or kick back. All four of these have different meanings for me. De-stress means I was recently manic and need to calm down. Relax means having friends over or going out with friends, wind down means I’ve been working non-stop and kick back means there’s probably a spring or summer breeze. So in no order of preference:

  • A cool drink, a wave lapping at my feet and a good book in hand as I sit in the sand under an umbrella.
  • A hot chocolate with lots of tiny marshmallows, my feet curled under me with my favorite cozy blanket, a fire popping and a good book.
  • Dinner and drinks at a comfortable restaurant with friends laughing at silly stories or bad jokes.
  • Picnicking with family and watching the children laugh and play.
  • quilting or crafting.